The Cleveland State University Black Studies Program’s Howard A. Mims African American Cultural Center in partnership with the Call & Post Newspaper will hold its annual Kuumba Arts Festival on Saturday, December 7, 2013, at 6:00 PM in the Main Classroom Auditorium. This year’s celebration will be a special tribute to African Americans in television and will acknowledge local and national television programs, news anchors and reporters as well as sitcoms, talk shows, reality shows, and dramas. The evening will open with a reception coordinated by Rhonda Crowder of the Call & Post for Cleveland area authors who will have a chance to announce the merit of their books advancing into scripts to become television shows.

A special appearance by Oprah Winfrey, who will be portrayed by Arlene LeVert, will address the topic of dyslexia while a version of an Arsenio Hall Show and Steve Harvey Show will lead into more celebratory moments with guest musicians and comedians. Certainly, the Wendy Williams Show segment of the evening is destined to bring out a surprise celebrity guest. Reflections of favorite programs like the Cosby Show, A Different World, Good Times, Fat Albert, The Jeffersons, and Fresh Prince of Bel Air will be highlighted with theme music performed by Mr. and Ms. Robert and Andrea Coleman. This talented husband and wife team will also be part of the Nat King Cole Show, Showtime at the Apollo and Soul Train tributes.

This “Edutainment” engagement is intended to provide a platform for CSU faculty members to comment on various dynamics related to stereotypical images of African Americans presented on television and the need for more informative programming that encourages an appreciation for African American history and culture. Scholarship by Donald Bogle and Dr. Alvin Poussaint is considered in the presentation to be a stimulant for future discussions through a variety of Black Studies courses, while recollections of the television mini-series Roots will extend lessons from the documentary Color Adjustment by Marlon Riggs.

The Kuumba Arts Festival is free and open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information contact Prester Pickett, M.F.A., Coordinator of the Howard A. Mims African American Cultural Center at (216) 687-3656 or visit www.csuohio.edu/class/blackstudies.